Pre-dawn to your stand?

[JMeg]

At the hunting lodge I go to near Oneonta, most guys - including me - are out the door well before sunrise while one guy waits until a couple of hours after sunrise to head out. The later guy says he doesn't want to push the deer out of the fields and back into the woods before they would otherwise go on their own. I respect the experience and advice I read on this forum. What do you think is best, and why?

[the blur]

I don't want to trip & fall over a branch, and crack my head. So I wait until 1st light to walk in.

[stoneam2006]

Durring archery I'm in before first light as chance of a good shot while on ground are tough.....gun season different story as range is much more and jumping a deer doesn't mean no shot opportunity. For that reason I head in right at legal shooting light.

Edit....good question can't wait to see the answers

Edited December 11, 2014 by stoneam2006

[ny hunter]

I like to be in my stand an hour before sun up........bow or gun.This way by legal shooting time the woods settle down again..

[steve863]

I don't want to trip & fall over a branch, and crack my head. So I wait until 1st light to walk in.

blur, that's why you didn't get any deer this year. You should get to your stand in the dark and shoot them 5 minutes before legal shooting time like the rest of us! LOL

[Jeremy K]

I like to be in my stand before sunrise but not if it means walking through a herd of them on the way in.I would say each situation is unique depending on the deer movement and the access you have to get to your stand.

[greensider]

if he is planing on waiting all day for those deer to come back to the field then it ma\kes sence i prefer to be on stand one hour before day light 

[Lawdwaz]

I like to be in my stand an hour before sun up........bow or gun.This way by legal shooting time the woods settle down again..

 

 

 

Ahh never mind, I deleted four sentences that would have been in poor taste.

 

 

Enjoy your hour.

[mjac]

For many years I used to be in before light, but  over the last  10 yrs or so  I just time myself to be in the stand or blind approx 15 -20 mins before legal shooting time.  The reason is,   I have never in 32 yrs shot a deer before 9am,  almost all my gun & bow  season deer have been taken between 930 - 1130 am,  and a couple about 15 mins before sunset. I hunt the woods, maybe it's diff if you hunt fields. 

[Nomad]

Most here will say well,before light, one time I would say that too, not anymore. I don't shoot deer that would be under my stand in the dark, those deer are long gone by light.

My stands are a all from10 to 30 yards in at most. They are on drainage ditches , or just in thickets or the hardwoods, I get here by walking farm field edges and I glass as I go, so if a moon lite night with no clouds I may go when still dark as I can see them , other wise I go as it's just getting light.

I glass and stop and often change what stand I use by what I see in the fields and where I see them.

Don't have to,let anything " settle down" if you don't mess it up .....

My one buddy gets in well before me, I enjoy his stories about busting deer on his way in.

I text him pics of the ones that go,by me a few for the last time.....

Edited December 11, 2014 by Larry302

[NeverSeenNorHeard]

I'm in ~1.5 hrs b-4 first light, earlier if I'm in a bedding area. Have gotten a few deer minutes after shooting time this way. I also pattern the other hunters on adjacent (private) land. Most of them I can set my watch to.

 

Each property and sometimes area of a property is different.  

[Lawdwaz]

I'm in ~1.5 hrs b-4 first light, earlier if I'm in a bedding area. Have gotten a few deer minutes after shooting time this way. I also pattern the other hunters on adjacent (private) land. Most of them I can set my watch to.

 

Each property and sometimes area of a property is different.  

 

So first light is what, 30 minutes before sunrise?  And you are going in two hours before legal shooting time, sometimes earlier? 

 

And you pattern other hunters? 

 

You are super human.................................You MUST have a wall full of trophy deer hunting like THAT!

[Buckmaster7600]

For bow I'm always in my stands an 1.5hr before sunrise. I mainly hunt woods in the morning and fields at night. At night I wait until dark so I can sneak out without being seen.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Buckmaster7600

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

For bow I'm always in my stands an 1.5hr before sunrise. I mainly hunt woods in the morning and fields at night. At night I wait until dark so I can sneak out without being seen.

You are aware that deer see better at night ...

Edited December 11, 2014 by Bowshotmuzzleloader

[Nomad]

For bow I'm always in my stands an 1.5hr before sunrise. I mainly hunt woods in the morning and fields at night. At night I wait until dark so I can sneak out without being seen.

I'm still in bed, have yet to shower , eat, dress , drive 32 miles, walk in......

[Pygmy]

Geeze...Sitting in a treestand in pitch dark for an hour and a half..

That sounds like lots of fun...Like whacking myself in the groin with a hammer or giving myself an enema with a turkey baster full of tabasco sauce...

[philoshop]

If you're scaring the deer you intend to hunt before you even get a chance to hunt them you're probably doing something wrong.

OTOH, if you spook a few deer on your way through to a stand location where those alerted deer are not considered potential targets the impact on your hunt is probably not as great. It's still going to have an impact on everything in the area, just probably not as big.

Case in point: You have a stand location to intercept deer as they leave a field where they feed at night. Don't walk through that very same field while the deer are still out there in order to get to your stand. And thinking that because it's still dark out and you don't see them that they won't know you're there is underestimating them by a lot.

[the blur]

1st light is 6am November 15th. By the end of the season 1st light was 6:15am.

[NeverSeenNorHeard]

Geeze...Sitting in a treestand in pitch dark for an hour and a half..

That sounds like lots of fun...Like whacking myself in the groin with a hammer or giving myself an enema with a turkey baster full of tabasco sauce...

 

It's really not that bad, and with the moon it's not pitch black.

[WingNut]

when the temperatures are mild (40's) i'll head in about 45 minutes before legal light.  When it's cold out, I'll head in at legal light +/- 5 minutes.  I'm not interested in wasting time just getting cold.  I would rather have the extra time during legal shooting hours.

[skully]

I use to always be in my stand 1 hr before it starts to get light until I realized there was no point in it.  Now I walk in when it is starting to  get light.  I guess it depends on your stand location......

[growalot]

always predawn when possible...I have spooked countless deer and they always came back ...or even came at me....it's all on how you do it...buck in pic... was understand spooked and I grunted and stomped...stiff legged back...spooked and I got half way up ladder and I grunted again...he came back then walked off into  gully...around 8 I put an arrow through him at 3 yrds....

[Uncle Nicky]

I used to get in an hour before light, because that is what I was taught, saw a LOT of sunrises. Got cold a lot earlier, tripped over rocks a lot in the dark, fell into a couple creeks,and got poked in the eye with tree branches also. Eventually, I came to the realization that it really didn't matter, now if I hunt in the mornings, I'm in my stand right at sunrise.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Uncle Nicky

[Lawdwaz]

Depending on the weather, plans for the rest of the day or shear boredom I'm good (during archery season) for about 3 hour sits.  If I get there to freaking early I'm losing seat time, simple as that because I'll hit the road.  During the rut that amount of time can and does change to the plus side.

 

Gun season opening days are all day sits.........no matter what.  I'm in a climber and come down once for Mother Nature and other than that won't come down until dark or I crack one.  After opening day, the three hour regimen starts up again.  Afternoon hunts sometimes aren't as long for bow or gun because I have a life outside of hunting. 

 

Why burn seat time in the dark? I'm in about 30 minutes before sunrise and ready to hunt.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Lawdwaz

[Five Seasons]

all depends. a good approach trail is vital. also depends on morning or evening hunts. i walk sometimes 20 to 30 minutes out of my way to avoid bedding and trails. I've gone out late and killed, but usually i'm in pre-dawn.